Today I speak not of the trees because last week federal judge, the Honorable Barbara Crabb, declared the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional. Some crazy people imagine that all prayer has been made illegal; what is true that government establishment of religion has been against the constitution since 1791. Religious fear-mongers paint her ruling as an anti-religious attack, but there are very good religious reasons for questioning a national day of prayer.
Several years ago Muncie, IN, had a civic ceremony on the National Day of Prayer. The Mayor, Fire Chief and other publicly elected officials participated in what they thought was a civic event. However, the ceremony’s purpose, stated by its local organizer and by the national organization that inspired him, was to assert that the U.S.A. was and is a "Christian" nation. This was not obvious until a group of local Christian pastors, Lutheran, Methodist, Baptist, and others including Unitarian Universalists, expressed a discomfort with the ceremony and asked that all citizens of our city, of all religious preferences or none, be included. Of course the people on the side of inclusion and tolerance eventually gained control of the ceremony. But then the question arose, "is this good religious practice?" Most Christians who read the Gospels of Matthew, 6:5-13, and Luke, 18:9-14, became uncomfortable with the whole idea of a civic prayer ceremony, and so the civic event fell by the wayside. It was replaced by many more events in churches and homes, and supplanted by the "World Day of Prayer."
A secondary problem with the National Day of Prayer arose in answering the question, what is prayer? For many prayer is simply talking to God, for some it is a communion with God and for yet others prayer includes working with devotion. Is meditation a form of prayer, or an alternative to prayer? Psalm 19:14 does not clarify the distinction. Can creating a work of art, or dancing, be a form of prayer? Is belief in God, or gods, required for prayer, and thus, do Buddhist pray? What are we encouraging on a day of prayer?
In the end if prayer is "speaking to a personal deity" or "expressing our hearts devotion," it does not matter. Either way we must live up the standard set by our nation's President at his inauguration. He said, "We know that our patchwork heritage is strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers." Perhaps we should have a national day of prayer and contemplation? That might have better integrity with the Constitution and the ideals of our nation.
Peace, Thomas
